Holiday Light Exchange

The Efficiency Nova Scotia LED Holiday Light Exchange program has wrapped up another successful season! This year, we handed out over 5,000 energy efficient LED lights and attended 119 events across the province, which means over 10,000 old incandescent lights have been taken off the grid.

We’d like to thank all the community partners who hosted exchanges, the wonderful volunteers who helped out at events and everyone who participated with the program. It has been a delight to work with so many great people, especially during the holidays and in conjunction with the festivities happening around the province.

Happy Holidays, and see you next year!

Why LED lights?

While LEDs have been around a long time, they have traditionally been used as indicators in electronic devices and for commercial use, such as traffic signal lights, automotive lights and exit signs. Only now are they found in more accessible forms, such as flashlights, night lights and holiday lights.

LED’s use up to 90% less electricity and last 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. They produce very little heat, making them efficient at producing light and reducing the risk of fire. LEDs are built differently from traditional lights in that they contain no glass and use Light Emitting Diodes (LED). LEDs are permanently attached in their sockets and are not changeable, however if one light fails, the others should still work. Some manufacturers rate the bulbs for up to 20 years and often have a rated lifespan of up to 100,000 hours.

LED’s are widely available at local department stores, hardware stores, supermarkets and pharmacies. Each LED set costs approximately $10-12 on average. Sets vary in string length, bulb size and colours and costs will also vary.